A nation cannot preach renewal while practising stagnation

Namibia is producing graduates faster than it is producing opportunities for them, and the reasons go deeper than a slow economy.

Thousands of Namibians graduated from two of the country's largest public universities this past cycle, stepping into an economy where the advice from the top is often simple: don't wait for work, create jobs.

That tip is often dispensed by leaders who remain in office long past retirement age, occupying positions younger professionals hope to reach one day.

The University of Namibia (Unam) conferred qualifications on 4 342 graduands across eight ceremonies at five venues, while the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) graduated 2 804 students in 2025, bringing the total to at least 7 146 in the most recent graduation cycle.

The university leavers are now poised to enter a labour market defined by high youth unemployment, slow private-sector expansion and limited graduate absorption.

Graduation stages are filled with speeches urging resilience, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Parastatals and major institutions remain top-heavy, with many senior office bearers staying on well beyond retirement age or recycling through appointments, boards and advisory roles.

The young are urged to make space for themselves, while the old rarely make space for others.

Proper training

While officiating at Wednesday's Unam graduation ceremony, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah underscored the urgency of proper training.

"The future of our country lies in the hands of our young people, who must be properly trained and educated to address issues of inequality and unemployment effectively," she said.

She also urged universities to align academic, research and community engagement to spur sustainable economic growth, diversification and youth empowerment.

"As you go out there, grab the opportunities that come your way," the president said.

She told graduates to step out of their "comfort zones", not only to look for jobs but to become innovators and creators of jobs by applying their knowledge, skills and qualifications.

In a congratulatory message for the Class of 2025, vice-chancellor Kenneth Matengu advised graduates to pursue pathways in employment, enterprise or public service, describing the world they are entering as dynamic, demanding, and full of possibilities.

And yet, across much of higher education, institutions are still heavily shaped by old-fashioned academic cultures in which senior professors rely on lecture models, rote learning, and theory-heavy approaches developed for another era.

The advice given to graduates is inspirational and necessary, but it lands differently in an economy where access to these aspirational pathways is increasingly constrained.

In a world where technology, artificial intelligence and workplace demands can change in a matter of months, some teaching methods are being overtaken faster than curricula can be revised. What was modern two years ago can feel outdated within two months.

Students are often taught to memorise rather than solve problems, to repeat notes rather than build products, and to pass examinations rather than adapt to industries that barely existed when some syllabuses were first designed.

The families behind the dream

For many students, a degree is financed by the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund, public money advanced in the hope that graduates will find work, repay their loans and help fund the next generation.

Repayment is difficult because thousands struggle to secure a stable income, thereby weakening the cycle meant to sustain opportunity.

Behind others stand families who pay in the currencies of sacrifice – goats, cattle, mahangu, chickens and household assets – to keep a child in school.

Mothers send food parcels they can barely afford.

Fathers borrow quietly from neighbours. Younger siblings wear patched uniforms so one brother or sister can remain at university for one more semester, because that sibling is the family’s first bridge to a better future.

Many households imagine the graduate returning home with bread, school fees, roofing sheets, medicine money, electricity units and relief from years of hardship.

When graduation is followed by years of unemployment or underemployment, the loss is greater than the statistics suggest. It is the goat that never came back. The pension money sacrificed on the altar of hope for a better future.

The hope that kept a household together. The sibling who waited in vain.

Generational congestion

Graduates are regularly encouraged to become innovators rather than job seekers.

Yet the public sector remains crowded with veterans reluctant to step aside, while promotion ladders wither beneath them, leading to generational congestion.

Young Namibians are told to be self-starters, but many still seek employment because starting a business requires capital, customers, networks and market opportunities they do not possess.

It is also difficult to celebrate job-creation speeches when some institutions delay succession planning, retain post-retirement contracts or repeatedly reappoint familiar names instead of opening fresh leadership pathways.

Universities, meanwhile, continue producing graduates at scale, feeding them degrees designed for outdated economic models where formal employment was the natural next step.

Complete university, enter government service, become a teacher, join the banking sector, secure a corporate post.

Namibia’s economy now demands data literacy, software skills, project management, logistics expertise, engineering trades, technical maintenance, commercial agility, AI fluency, energy-sector competence and entrepreneurial execution.

Public administration requires digital governance. Business studies need analytics and fintech. Journalism needs multimedia production and AI verification. Education requires modern classroom technology. Humanities need stronger pathways into research, policy, communications and enterprise.

Although some graduates possess these skills, many do not receive enough practical exposure, and the degrees they acquire no longer speak the language of the economy they are told to become a part of.

Old-fashioned and colonial-educated university professors themselves still hobble across corridors, arming students with outdated degrees while telling them to become employers.

What kind of example does society set when graduates are told to innovate while senior elites monopolise scarce opportunities? A nation cannot preach renewal while practising stagnation.

Namibia needs stronger curricula, faster-growing industries, honest succession planning and leaders willing to mentor, transition and let others rise.

Until then, too many young Namibians will keep hearing the same advice: create jobs, be patient, work hard.

And wait for seats no one wants to vacate.